Following days of growing pressure on the Mayor of York & North Yorkshire after he launched a new logo at a cost to taxpayers of almost £32,000, a petition has been launched calling on the Mayor to pay for the logo himself.
David Skaith, who pledged to be a “value for money Mayor”, was accused of “staggering waste” after blowing £31,360 on external consultants to design a logo that has attracted national ridicule.
Now, in the face of mounting opposition, York Conservatives have created a petition urging the Mayor to pay for the new branding out of his annual salary of £81,300.
Commenting on the petition, the Leader of the Conservative Group on the City of York Council, Chris Steward, said:
Yesterday, David Skaith defended his logo as representing good value for money. Today, we’re putting that claim to the test.
This logo costs more than most local people earn in an entire year. We think that the Mayor should pay the money back from his huge taxpayer-funded salary, and so we’re launching this petition to give people the chance to have their say.
Even if the cost of this logo had been much less, it’s ridiculous that David Skaith has managed to come up with a design which doesn’t feature any of the symbols which define York & North Yorkshire, including the iconic White Rose.
The whole thing is a vain, pointless, waste of money – and it’s time David Skaith was held to account for this madness.
The petition comes after Councillor Keane Duncan, an executive member on North Yorkshire Council, first highlighted the “scandalous” cost of the new logo on Tuesday.
His post on X led to widespread condemnation of the logo, with commentators describing it as “ugly”, “cringeworthy” and “woke”.
The petition is available to sign here: https://www.yorkconservatives.co.uk/mayors-logo-petition
